Monday, February 15, 2016

The Savannah Book Festival, the death of a Supreme Court Justice, and my advice for the President

Friday night I was able to hear Eric Larson at the Savannah
Book Festival. It was an enjoyable
lecture, even if I felt it was a bit canned.
He could have given this lecture anywhere in the English speaking world,
but that’s okay, for it my first time hearing it. His talk had appropriate humor, often
directed at himself along with some insights into his methodology, which I most
appreciated. He also got a hardy laugh
when he announced his next book (Killing
Bill O’Reilly). There was a good
question and answer section afterwards, but I wish someone would have asked him
what he thought about Bill O’Reilly’s Killing (you add the name-Jesus, Patton,
Lincoln, Kennedy, Reagan) books and about O’Reilly as a historian.

I was a bit surprised to learn that Larson doesn’t think of
himself as a historian. Instead, he sees
himself as an animator of history, trying to weave a historical accurate story together
in a manner that allows the reader to feel as if he or she was there at the
time of the event. Instead of trying to
inform, he’s trying to create a rich experience for the reader. As with his latest book, Dead Wake, which is about the Lusitania, Larson said it was harder
for we all know the ending of the story (the ship sinks) but he wants his
readers to feel as if maybe this time it won’t.
Certainly, those who were on board did not think the ship would be sunk
until after it was struck by a torpedo.
Larson acknowledges a desire to write about things that are not as well
know and that while there was much written about the Lusitania, most of it
focused on the sinking itself and the aftermath (the hearings and the court
battles). If you’ve read the book, you’ll
remember that Larson focuses mostly on the passengers and life aboard the ship
as it crossed the Atlantic (along with the life of the crew of the
U-boat). This allows him to create a
different perspective from much of what had already been written about the
ship.

After the lecture, I was invited to a party which where
there were a lot of other authors at the Savannah Book Festival. I met a few of them. I would have enjoyed listening to more of
them, but the Saturday of the festival events are in a half-dozen different
venues downtown and with my limited mobility, I just couldn’t see myself hobbling
from one venue to another (and I still am unable to drive)

In other news, as you all heard, Antonin Scalia died this
weekend. He’s the only Supreme Court
Justice that I have meet personally. In
2003, I heard him speak at Calvin College and was at a wine and cheese
reception with him afterwards. Needless
to say, I didn’t always agree with him, but my condolences goes out to his
family and those who do. However, our country has a
unique opportunity and I hope Obama seizes the moment. Ted Cruz said that if Obama nominates a
successor to Scalia, he personally will filibuster the nominee. What a great idea. I hope the President nominates someone this
afternoon. Send Cruz back to Washington
where he can be relegated to C-Span… Now
what can we do to shut up the rest of the candidates and find a bit of peace? The eternal election cycle that has taken over American politics needs to stop!

53 comments:

I totally agree with you, and I've been running away from as much as I can! But we all know it's only going to get worse! Enough on that, your Friday (although not as comfortable yet I'm sure) but you are on the road to healing and what a fun night out.

Glad you had a good time at the book festival. I've never even been to one before. I like his take on the ending for Dead Wake (that it might not sink this time). I haven't read it but now I'm intrigued.

My copy of Dead Wake is now in the mail. I had enough things to order on Amazon that I decided to add that to my shopping basket before checking out. Onto the pile it will go and I'm looking forward to reading it.

I like having a constitutionally conservative Supreme Court so I was saddened that Scalia couldn't wait to die until after the election. It was very inconsiderate of him to say the least! All kidding aside, even wanting a conservative court, I do think it Obama has a right to nominate a replacement. If the shoe were on the other foot, I think Cruz would be indignant at liberals saying that he should wait until after the election to nominate a replacement. Normally I wouldn't think twice about such things but it seems in modern times, the Supreme Court has done a lot of what I think is legislating and that is what scares me.

I think Scalia politics often influenced his interpretation of the constitution--but then I really find the capital punishment repugnant and you can't throw everything back on the states (ie, Bush's election by the Courts in 2000)

We hosted Larson here a couple of years ago. He didn't seem very keen on speaking or signing books, but he did have some good laughs for us during his speech. I like the way he describes his work, and I love reading it even though it makes my heart heavy at times. History isn't all that glorious at times.

I'm sick of this political circus. I'm all for one week to tell me why I should vote for a candidate, and then the election. Enough already.

Haha. I was nervous upon reading the start of your post. I didn't want another dose of political venom from the right (wasn't sure where you stood). Alas, I agree. Send Cruz much, much further than Washington on a one-way ticket, please.Be well, Sage.

If the Democrat's haven't a JoSCOTUS ready to go from the day they set foot inside the Oval Office they are idiots. It is truly the one job a POTUS has that can reach long after they're gone or/and on a speaking circuit making gazillions.

Of course he's writing History. If it fits to the Herodotus definition then it's history. Events can be an opening rather than a closing. They can track and trace people within the context of their society and the different sections on a ship like Lusitania can both connect and divide the wider societies within two continent's. Remember it was going 'to' Europe. But I don't blame him from distancing himself from the 'official' historians. They've gone a bit nihilistic over the last 30 or so years with their 'revisionism'.Delighted to hear you are out and about.

I didn't agree with anything Justice Scalia said. but I'm sure meeting him was quite an experience.May he RIP and condolences to his family. Our political situation hasn't been able to do much but create some interesting late night comedy. It's sad that the politicians can't work together to make the country a better place.

Scalia was funny and it was interesting to be in his presence. Of course this was before the Supreme Court decided to allow corporations to spend unlimited amounts on elections... I'd like to be able to ask him about his support for that.

The eternal election cycle that has taken over American politics needs to stop!

Heard recently that many Americans in their 20's don't have a high regard for democracy. I think they realize that quite often the political agendas both parties endorse are just window dressing to hide their pursuit for power and reelection.

Sounds like an awesome time. Animator of history is a new phrase to me. Sounds intriguing. I'm with you on the Scalia issue. I didn't agree with him on things but am sorry to hear of his death, particularly for his family. I agree on President Obama moving quickly to make an appointment.

You came up with a great added bonus to Obama nominating someone right away. I, too, I'm tired of all the BS. The New Yorker had a great cartoon this morning - we'll be down to only two branches of government if the parties continue in this direction. Sounds like an interesting talk overall. I love book festivals. Ours is coming up in April. I wonder if Larson is making the rounds this season.

I agree with your last line! My Twitter feed is full of people making fun of the endless rounds of debates, at which no ideas or coherent thoughts ever seem to be expressed, just lost of name calling and pointless accusations.Can't find your Australian poet post :-(

Politics seems hot nowadays, with a lot of hotheads too. I don't recall it being like this when I was younger, or maybe it's with age that I notice this more. I know about canned presentations. I've seen them myself, but they can be enjoyable and worthwhile.

The mud slinging of this election has just gotten to a point where I don't want to watch them anymore. Trump is the worst of all of them with his mouth. My gawd someone make this guy think before he speaks form now on.

I was so busy with work stuff (go figure! and me "retired" now) that I totally missed the Book Fair! I knew it was coming, but somehow missed the fact that Eric Larson was going to speak! *facepalm* xo

Musings

This blog contains observations on life and nature written by Sage, satire and parody written by Nevada Jack, and an occasional book review or poem. As a general rule, the author of the blog doesn't write about his work or his family. Email at sagecoveredhills [at] gmail.com